The 2023 season is also off to a bad start.
The Hanwha Eagles suffered a 5-7 come-from-behind loss in the 10th inning of overtime in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League regular season home game against SSG Landers held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on the 8th.
This season alone, it has already been extended for the third time, and the results are all losses. In addition to this, the battle unfolds until the 9th inning, and collapses at the last moment. It is Hanwha’s baseball right now that we cannot be relieved even if we are ahead by several points.안전놀이터
Prior to this season, Hanwha coach Carlos Subero cited the bullpen, which had improved depth, as the biggest gain this season. He showed his confidence in the bullpen pitchers, who clearly improved during the exhibition games. But this season was different.
Hanwha currently has a record of 1 win and 5 losses. Looking back at the 5 defeats, they were all able to win, but collapsed at the last minute. In an interview with SSG before the game, coach Subero said, “If the bullpen had played its part, we would have won 4-1 or 5.” It was painful and difficult to accept.”
On the same day, they lost in the same pattern. The Hanwha batting line scored a whopping 5 points up to the 3rd inning against ‘natural enemy’ Kim Gwang-hyun. Kim Min-woo, a native ace who took the mound as a starting pitcher, also seemed to enjoy a clean victory after a long time, fighting hard until the 4th inning. In the 5th inning, Eui-san Jeon hit a 3-run home run, but he still maintained a 2-run lead.
Another problem was the bullpen. In the 6th inning, Lee Tae-yang faltered and conceded an extra run. Han Seung-joo managed to block the 7th inning, but Yoon San-heum collapsed again in the 8th, eventually allowing the score to be tied at 5-5. Kang Jae-min pitched scoreless until the ninth inning and avoided defeat in the end, but there was no bullpen pitcher to put in extra time.
In the end, the Hanwha bench selected Nam Ji-min, a temporary starter, as a relief pitcher to replace Birch Smith. Since there was no pitching schedule this week, it would be appropriate to say that he was pulled over. However, regardless of Hanwha’s will, even Nam Ji-min collapsed. Lee Jae-won, Choo Shin-soo, and Choi Ji-hoon hit three consecutive hits. He seemed to handle Choi Jeong well with a ground ball, but this time, due to a mistake by Soo-jin Ya, he ended up giving 2 points and losing.
The same pattern of defeat followed by a single difference. It’s hard to see it as a defeat that simply led to the fire of the bullpen. However, it is hard to deny that it provided an excuse.
More than anything, it hurts to see so many points lost while avoiding the game. On this day, the bullpen recorded as many as five pitches. Except for the 2 points in the 10th overtime, all of them gave up the last 5 points. This is something that Hanwha needs to look back on.
Coach Subero said, “I hope that the bullpen pitchers will show the aggression they showed during the demonstration game in the regular season as well. Only then can we get better, and this is a task we need to solve.” Unfortunately, his wish has not been conveyed to the team until today.